Applied Filters

Description:
A Microgrid is recognized as an innovative technology to help integrate renewables into distribution systems and to provide additional benefits to a variety of stakeholders, such as offsetting infrastructure investments and improving the reliability of the local system. However, these systems require additional investments for control infrastructure, and as such, additional costs and the anticipated benefits need to be quantified in order to determine whether the investment is economically feasible. This paper proposes a methodology for systematizing and representing benefits and their interrelationships based on the UML Use Case paradigm, which allows complex systems to be represented in a concise, elegant format. This methodology is demonstrated by determining the economic feasibility of a Microgrid and Distributed Generation installed on a typical Canadian rural distribution system model as a case study. The study attempts to minimize the cost of energy served to the community, considering the fixed costs associated with Microgrids and Distributed Generation, and suggests benefits to a variety of stakeholders.

Description:
Residential thermostats have been a key element in controlling heating and cooling systems for over sixty years. However, today's modern programmable thermostats (PTs) are complicated and difficult for users to understand, leading to errors in operation and wasted energy. Four separate tests of usability were conducted in preparation for a larger study. These tests included personal interviews, an on-line survey, photographing actual thermostat settings, and measurements of ability to accomplish four tasks related to effective use of a PT. The interviews revealed that many occupants used the PT as an on-off switch and most demonstrated little knowledge of how to operate it. The on-line survey found that 89% of the respondents rarely or never used the PT to set a weekday or weekend program. The photographic survey (in low income homes) found that only 30% of the PTs were actually programmed. In the usability test, we found that we could quantify the difference in usability of two PTs as measured in time to accomplish tasks. Users accomplished the tasks in consistently shorter times with the touchscreen unit than with buttons. None of these studies are representative of the entire population of users but, together, they illustrate the importance of improving user interfaces in PTs.

Description:
Since 2006, China has set goals of reducing energy intensity, emissions, and pollutants in multiple guidelines and in the Five Year Plans. Various strategies and measures have then been taken to improve the energy efficiency in all sectors and to reduce pollutants. Since controlling energy, CO{sub 2} emissions, and pollutants falls under the jurisdiction of different government agencies in China, many strategies are being implemented to fulfill only one of these objectives. Co-controls or integrated measures could simultaneously reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and criteria air pollutant emissions. The targets could be met in a more cost effective manner if the integrated measures can be identified and prioritized. This report provides analysis and insights regarding how these targets could be met via co-control measures focusing on both CO{sub 2} and SO{sub 2} emissions in the cement, iron &amp;steel, and power sectors to 2030 in China. An integrated national energy and emission model was developed in order to establish a baseline scenario that was used to assess the impact of actions already taken by the Chinese government as well as planned and expected actions. In addition, CO{sub 2} mitigation scenarios and SO{sub 2} control scenarios were also established to evaluate the impact of each of the measures and the combined effects. In the power sector, although the end of pipe SO{sub 2} control technology such as flue gas desulfurization (FGD) has the largest reduction potential for SO{sub 2} emissions, other CO{sub 2} control options have important co-benefits in reducing SO{sub 2} emissions of 52.6 Mt of SO{sub 2} accumulatively. Coal efficiency improvements along with hydropower, renewable and nuclear capacity expansion will result in more than half of the SO{sub 2} emission reductions as the SO{sub 2} control technology through 2016. In comparison, the reduction from carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is ...

Description:
Production of iron and steel is an energy-intensive manufacturing process. In 2006, the iron and steel industry accounted for 13.6% and 1.4% of primary energy consumption in China and the U.S., respectively (U.S. DOE/EIA, 2010a; Zhang et al., 2010). The energy efficiency of steel production has a direct impact on overall energy consumption and related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The goal of this study is to develop a methodology for making an accurate comparison of the energy intensity (energy use per unit of steel produced) of steel production. The methodology is applied to the steel industry in China and the U.S. The methodology addresses issues related to boundary definitions, conversion factors, and indicators in order to develop a common framework for comparing steel industry energy use. This study uses a bottom-up, physical-based method to compare the energy intensity of China and U.S. crude steel production in 2006. This year was chosen in order to maximize the availability of comparable steel-sector data. However, data published in China and the U.S. are not always consistent in terms of analytical scope, conversion factors, and information on adoption of energy-saving technologies. This study is primarily based on published annual data from the China Iron & Steel Association and National Bureau of Statistics in China and the Energy Information Agency in the U.S. This report found that the energy intensity of steel production is lower in the United States than China primarily due to structural differences in the steel industry in these two countries. In order to understand the differences in energy intensity of steel production in both countries, this report identified key determinants of sector energy use in both countries. Five determinants analyzed in this report include: share of electric arc furnaces in total steel production, sector penetration of energy-efficiency technologies, scale of production ...

Description:
Residential customers in California's Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&amp;E) territory have seen several electricity rate structure changes in the past decade. This poster: examines the history of the residential pricing structure and key milestones; summarizes and analyzes the usage between 2006 and 2009 for different baseline/climate areas; discusses the residential electricity Smart Meter roll out; and compares sample bills for customers in two climates under the current pricing structure and also the future time of use (TOU) structure.

Description:
Controlling electric loads to deliver power system services presents a number of interesting challenges. For example, changes in electricity consumption of Commercial and Industrial (C&amp;I) facilities are usually estimated using counterfactual baseline models, and model uncertainty makes it difficult to precisely quantify control responsiveness. Moreover, C&amp;I facilities exhibit variability in their response. This paper seeks to understand baseline model error and demand-side variability in responses to open-loop control signals (i.e. dynamic prices). Using a regression-based baseline model, we define several Demand Response (DR) parameters, which characterize changes in electricity use on DR days, and then present a method for computing the error associated with DR parameter estimates. In addition to analyzing the magnitude of DR parameter error, we develop a metric to determine how much observed DR parameter variability is attributable to real event-to-event variability versus simply baseline model error. Using data from 38 C&amp;I facilities that participated in an automated DR program in California, we find that DR parameter errors are large. For most facilities, observed DR parameter variability is likely explained by baseline model error, not real DR parameter variability; however, a number of facilities exhibit real DR parameter variability. In some cases, the aggregate population of C&amp;I facilities exhibits real DR parameter variability, resulting in implications for the system operator with respect to both resource planning and system stability.

Description:
Workers in indoor environments often complain of symptoms, such as eye and nose irritation, headache, and fatigue, which improve away from work. Exposures causing such complaints, sometimes referred to as sick building syndrome, generally have not been identified. Evidence suggests these worker symptoms are related to chemical, microbiological, physical, and psychosocial exposures not well characterized by current methods. Most research in this area has involved cross-sectional studies, which are limited in their abilities to show causal connections. Experimental studies have also been conducted which, by changing one factor at a time to isolate its effects, can demonstrate benefits of an environmental intervention even before exposures or mechanisms are understood. This study was prompted by evidence that particulate contaminants may be related to acute occupant symptoms and discomfort. The objective was to assess, with a double-blind, double crossover intervention design, whether improved removal of small airborne particles by enhanced central filtration would reduce symptoms and discomfort.

Description:
We assess developable on-shore wind potential in India at three different hub-heights and under two sensitivity scenarios – one with no farmland included, the other with all farmland included. Under the “no farmland included” case, the total wind potential in India ranges from 748 GW at 80m hub-height to 976 GW at 120m hub-height. Under the “all farmland included” case, the potential with a minimum capacity factor of 20 percent ranges from 984 GW to 1,549 GW. High quality wind energy sites, at 80m hub-height with a minimum capacity factor of 25 percent, have a potential between 253 GW (no farmland included) and 306 GW (all farmland included). Our estimates are more than 15 times the current official estimate of wind energy potential in India (estimated at 50m hub height) and are about one tenth of the official estimate of the wind energy potential in the US.

Description:
In addition to promoting energy efficiency, China has actively pursued alternative energy development as a strategy to reduce its energy demand and carbon emissions. One area of particular focus has been to raise the share of alternative energy in China’s rapidly growing electricity generation with a 2020 target of 15% share of total primary energy. Over the last ten years, China has established several major renewable energy regulations along with programs and subsidies to encourage the growth of non-fossil alternative energy including solar, wind, nuclear, hydro, geothermal and biomass power as well as biofuels and coal alternatives. This study thus seeks to examine China’s alternative energy in terms of what has and will continue to drive alternative energy development in China as well as analyze in depth the growth potential and challenges facing each specific technology. This study found that despite recent policies enabling extraordinary capacity and investment growth, alternative energy technologies face constraints and barriers to growth. For relatively new technologies that have not achieved commercialization such as concentrated solar thermal, geothermal and biomass power, China faces technological limitations to expanding the scale of installed capacity. While some alternative technologies such as hydropower and coal alternatives have been slowed by uneven and often changing market and policy support, others such as wind and solar PV have encountered physical and institutional barriers to grid integration. Lastly, all alternative energy technologies face constraints in human resources and raw material resources including land and water, with some facing supply limitations in critical elements such as uranium for nuclear, neodymium for wind and rare earth metals for advanced solar PV. In light of China’s potential for and barriers to growth, the resource and energy requirement for alternative energy technologies were modeled and scenario analysis used to evaluate the energy and emission impact of ...

Description:
Dampness and mold have been shown in qualitative reviews to be associated with a variety of adverse respiratory health effects, including respiratory tract infections. Several published meta-analyses have provided quantitative summaries for some of these associations, but not for respiratory infections. Demonstrating a causal relationship between dampness-related agents, which are preventable exposures, and respiratory tract infections would suggest important new public health strategies. We report the results of quantitative meta-analyses of published studies that examined the association of dampness or mold in homes with respiratory infections and bronchitis. For primary studies meeting eligibility criteria, we transformed reported odds ratios (ORs) and confidence intervals (CIs) to the log scale. Both fixed and random effects models were applied to the log ORs and their variances. Most studies contained multiple estimated ORs. Models accounted for the correlation between multiple results within the studies analyzed. One set of analyses was performed with all eligible studies, and another set restricted to studies that controlled for age, gender, smoking, and socioeconomic status. Subgroups of studies were assessed to explore heterogeneity. Funnel plots were used to assess publication bias. The resulting summary estimates of ORs from random effects models based on all studies ranged from 1.38 to 1.50, with 95% CIs excluding the null in all cases. Use of different analysis models and restricting analyses based on control of multiple confounding variables changed findings only slightly. ORs (95% CIs) from random effects models using studies adjusting for major confounding variables were, for bronchitis, 1.45 (1.32-1.59); for respiratory infections, 1.44 (1.31-1.59); for respiratory infections excluding nonspecific upper respiratory infections, 1.50 (1.32-1.70), and for respiratory infections in children or infants, 1.48 (1.33-1.65). Little effect of publication bias was evident. Estimated attributable risk proportions ranged from 8% to 20%. Residential dampness and mold are associated with substantial and statistically significant ...

Description:
Adoption of efficient end-use technologies is one of the key measures for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. How to effectively analyze and manage the costs associated with GHG reductions becomes extremely important for the industry and policy makers around the world. Energy-climate (EC) models are often used for analyzing the costs of reducing GHG emissions for various emission-reduction measures, because an accurate estimation of these costs is critical for identifying and choosing optimal emission reduction measures, and for developing related policy options to accelerate market adoption and technology implementation. However, accuracies of assessing of GHG-emission reduction costs by taking into account the adoption of energy efficiency technologies will depend on how well these end-use technologies are represented in integrated assessment models (IAM) and other energy-climate models.

Description:
This article uses an analytical approach to determine the dilution of an unsteadily-generated solute in an unsteady solvent stream, under cyclic temporal boundary conditions. The goal is to find a simplified way of showing equivalence of such a process to a reference case where equivalent dilution is defined as a weighted average concentration. This derivation has direct applications to the ventilation of indoor spaces where indoor air quality and energy consumption cannot in general be simultaneously optimized. By solving the equation we can specify how much air we need to use in one ventilation pattern compared to another to obtain same indoor air quality. Because energy consumption is related to the amount of air exchanged by a ventilation system, the equation can be used as a first step to evaluate different ventilation patterns effect on the energy consumption. The use of the derived equation is demonstrated by representative cases of interest in both residential and non-residential buildings.

Description:
As a result of soaring energy demand from a staggering pace of economic expansion and the related growth of energy-intensive industry, China overtook the United States to become the world's largest contributor to CO{sub 2} emissions in 2007. At the same time, China has taken serious actions to reduce its energy and carbon intensity by setting both a short-term energy intensity reduction goal for 2006 to 2010 as well as a long-term carbon intensity reduction goal for 2020. This study presents a China Energy Outlook through 2050 that assesses the role of energy efficiency policies in transitioning China to a lower emission trajectory and meeting its intensity reduction goals. Over the past few years, LBNL has established and significantly enhanced its China End-Use Energy Model which is based on the diffusion of end-use technologies and other physical drivers of energy demand. This model presents an important new approach for helping understand China's complex and dynamic drivers of energy consumption and implications of energy efficiency policies through scenario analysis. A baseline ('Continued Improvement Scenario') and an alternative energy efficiency scenario ('Accelerated Improvement Scenario') have been developed to assess the impact of actions already taken by the Chinese government as well as planned and potential actions, and to evaluate the potential for China to control energy demand growth and mitigate emissions. In addition, this analysis also evaluated China's long-term domestic energy supply in order to gauge the potential challenge China may face in meeting long-term demand for energy. It is a common belief that China's CO{sub 2} emissions will continue to grow throughout this century and will dominate global emissions. The findings from this research suggest that this will not necessarily be the case because saturation in ownership of appliances, construction of residential and commercial floor area, roadways, railways, fertilizer use, and ...

Description:
Implementation and adoption of efficient end-use technologies have proven to be one of the key measures for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions throughout the industries. In many cases, implementing energy efficiency measures is among one of the most cost effective investments that the industry could make in improving efficiency and productivity while reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Over the years, there have been incentives to use resources and energy in a cleaner and more efficient way to create industries that are sustainable and more productive. With the working of energy programs and policies on GHG inventory and regulation, understanding and managing the costs associated with mitigation measures for GHG reductions is very important for the industry and policy makers around the world and in California. Successful implementation of applicable emerging technologies not only may help advance productivities, improve environmental impacts, or enhance industrial competitiveness, but also can play a significant role in climate-mitigation efforts by saving energy and reducing the associated GHG emissions. Developing new information on costs and savings benefits of energy efficient emerging technologies applicable in California market is important for policy makers as well as the industries. Therefore, provision of timely evaluation and estimation of the costs and energy savings potential of emerging technologies applicable to California is the focus of this report. The overall goal of the project is to identify and select a set of emerging and under-utilized energy-efficient technologies and practices as they are important to reduce energy consumption in industry while maintaining economic growth. Specifically, this report contains the results from performing Task 3 Technology Characterization for California Industries for the project titled Research Opportunities in Emerging and Under-Utilized Energy-Efficient Industrial Technologies, sponsored by California Energy Commission (CEC) and managed by California Institute for Energy and Environment (CIEE). The project purpose is to ...

Description:
Implementation and adoption of efficient end-use technologies have proven to be one of the key measures for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions throughout the industries. In many cases, implementing energy efficiency measures is among one of the most cost effective investments that the industry could make in improving efficiency and productivity while reducing CO2 emissions. Over the years, there have been incentives to use resources and energy in a cleaner and more efficient way to create industries that are sustainable and more productive. With the working of energy programs and policies on GHG inventory and regulation, understanding and managing the costs associated with mitigation measures for GHG reductions is very important for the industry and policy makers around the world. Successful implementation of emerging technologies not only can help advance productivities and competitiveness but also can play a significant role in mitigation efforts by saving energy. Providing evaluation and estimation of the costs and energy savings potential of emerging technologies is the focus of our work in this project. The overall goal of the project is to identify and select emerging and under-utilized energy-efficient technologies and practices as they are important to reduce energy consumption in industry while maintaining economic growth. This report contains the results from performing Task 2&quot;Technology evaluation&quot; for the project titled&quot;Research Opportunities in Emerging and Under-Utilized Energy-Efficient Industrial Technologies,&quot; which was sponsored by California Energy Commission and managed by CIEE. The project purpose is to analyze market status, market potential, and economic viability of selected technologies applicable to the U.S. In this report, LBNL first performed re-assessments of all of the 33 emerging energy-efficient industrial technologies, including re-evaluation of the 26 technologies that were previously identified by Martin et al. (2000) and their potential significance to energy use in the industries, and new evaluation of additional ...

Description:
ENERGY STAR is a voluntary energy efficiency labeling program operated jointly by the Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (US DOE), designed to identify and promote energy-efficient products, buildings and practices. Since the program inception in 1992, ENERGY STAR has become a leading international brand for energy efficient products, and currently labels more than thirty products, spanning office equipment, heating, cooling and ventilation equipment, commercial and residential lighting, home electronics, and major appliances. ENERGY STAR's central role in the development of regional, national and international energy programs necessitates an open process whereby its program achievements to date as well as projected future savings are shared with stakeholders. This report presents savings estimates from the use ENERGY STAR labeled products. We present estimates of energy, dollar, and carbon savings achieved by the program in the year 2009, annual forecasts for 2010 and 2011, and cumulative savings estimates for the period 1993 through 2009 and cumulative forecasts for the period 2010 through 2015. Through 2009 the program saved 9.5 Quads of primary energy and avoided the equivalent of 170 million metric tons carbon (MMTC). The forecast for the period 2009-2015 is 11.5 Quads or primary energy saved and 202 MMTC emissions avoided. The sensitivity analysis bounds the best estimate of carbon avoided between 110 MMTC and 231 MMTC (1993 to 2009) and between 130 MMTC and 285 MMTC (2010 to 2015).

Description:
Urbanization is reshaping China's economy, society, and energy system. Between 1990 and 2008 China added more than 300 million new urban residents, bringing the total urbanization rate to 46%. The ongoing population shift is spurring energy demand for new construction, as well as additional residential use with the replacement of rural biomass by urban commercial energy services. This project developed a modeling tool to quantify the full energy consequences of a particular form of urban residential development in order to identify energy- and carbon-efficient modes of neighborhood-level development and help mitigate resource and environmental implications of swelling cities. LBNL developed an integrated modeling tool that combines process-based lifecycle assessment with agent-based building operational energy use, personal transport, and consumption modeling. The lifecycle assessment approach was used to quantify energy and carbon emissions embodied in building materials production, construction, maintenance, and demolition. To provide more comprehensive analysis, LBNL developed an agent-based model as described below. The model was applied to LuJing, a residential development in Jinan, Shandong Province, to provide a case study and model proof of concept. This study produced results data that are unique by virtue of their scale, scope and type. Whereas most existing literature focuses on building-, city-, or national-level analysis, this study covers multi-building neighborhood-scale development. Likewise, while most existing studies focus exclusively on building operational energy use, this study also includes embodied energy related to personal consumption and buildings. Within the boundaries of this analysis, food is the single largest category of the building energy footprint, accounting for 23% of the total. On a policy level, the LCA approach can be useful for quantifying the energy and environmental benefits of longer average building lifespans. In addition to prospective analysis for standards and certification, urban form modeling can also be useful in calculating or verifying ex ...

Description:
This report analyzed the potential for increasing energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) in the non-residential building and the industrial sectors in India. The first two sections describe the research and analysis supporting the establishment of baseline energy consumption using a bottom up approach for the non residential sector and for the industry sector respectively. The third section covers the explanation of a modeling framework where GHG emissions are projected according to a baseline scenario and alternative scenarios that account for the implementation of cleaner technology.

Description:
In this work, matrix assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) has been utilized to characterize colloidal platinum nanoparticles synthesized in the 1-4 nm size range. The nanoparticles were prepared via a solution-based method in which the size could be controlled by varying reaction conditions, such as the alcohol used as the reductant. Poly(vinylpyrrolidone), or PVP, (MW = 29,000 g/mol) was employed as a capping agent to stabilize the synthesized nanoparticles in solution. A model for determining the size of the metallic nanoparticle core from MALDI-TOF mass spectra has been developed and verified through correlation with particle sizes from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. In this model it was assumed that 1.85 nm nanoparticles are capped by one PVP chain, which was verified through experiments performed with capped and uncapped nanoparticles. Larger nanoparticles are capped by either two (2.60 and 2.94 nm) or three (3.69 nm) PVP chains. These findings clearly indicate the usefulness of MALDI-TOF MS as a technique for fully characterizing nanoscale materials in order to elucidate structure-property relationships.

Description:
Poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) capped platinum and rhodium nanoparticles (7-12 nm) have been studied with UV-VIS, FTIR and Raman spectroscopy. The absorption bands in the region 190-900 nm are shown to be sensitive to the electronic structure of surface Rh and Pt atoms as well as to the aggregation of the nanoparticles. In-situ FTIR-DRIFT spectroscopy of the thermal decay of PVP stabilized Rh and Pt nanoparticles in H{sub 2} and O{sub 2} atmospheres in temperatures ranging from 30 C-350 C reveal that decomposition of PVP above 200 C, PVP transforms into a 'polyamidpolyene' - like material that is in turn converted into a thin layer of amorphous carbon above 300 C. Adsorbed carbon monoxide was used as a probing molecule to monitor changes of electronic structure of surface Rh and Pt atoms and accessible surface area. The behavior of surface Rh and Pt atoms with ligated CO and amide groups of pyrrolidones resemble that of surface coordination compounds.

Description:
Monodisperse sub-10 nm (6.5 nm) sized Rh nanocrystals with (111) and (100) surface structures were synthesized by a seedless polyol reduction in ethylene glycol, with poly(vinylpyrrolidone) as a capping ligand. When using [Rh(Ac){sub 2}]{sub 2} as the metal precursor, (111)-oriented Rh nanopolyhedra containing 76% (111)-twined hexagons (in 2D projection) were obtained; whereas, when employing RhCl{sub 3} as the metal precursor in the presence of alkylammonium bromide, such as tetramethylammonium bromide and trimethyl(tetradecyl)ammonium bromide, (100)-oriented Rh nanocubes were obtained with 85% selectivity. The {l_brace}100{r_brace} faces of the Rh nanocrystals are stabilized by chemically adsorbed Br{sup -} ions from alkylammonium bromides, which led to (100)-oriented nanocubes. Monolayer films of the (111)-oriented Rh nanopolyhedra and (100)-oriented Rh nanocubes were deposited on silicon wafers in a Langmuir-Blodgett trough to make model 2D nanoarray catalysts. These nanocatalysts were active for CO oxidation by O{sub 2}, and the turnover frequency was independent of nanoparticle shape, consistent with that previously observed for Rh(111) and Rh(100) single crystals.

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